


The Quality of Being Odd (Or: Why Being Odd Isn't All Bad, Or: How NOT to Make a Banana Cream Pie)

by SelenaTerna



Series: Random Doctor Who Ficlets [13]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adorkable Doctor, DWSS 2018, Donna being Donna, F/M, Fluff, Genius! Doctor, Graphic Designer!Rose, Human AU, Humour, Jack Being Jack (even in passing), Neighbours AU (sort of), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 00:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17233949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelenaTerna/pseuds/SelenaTerna
Summary: Donna is getting married and needs to find a tenant for her flat. Enter one Rose Tyler, who needs to find a new place as soon as possible. Enter also one John Noble, cousin to Donna, a genius scientist, who lives two floors up from Donna. Madness ensues.





	The Quality of Being Odd (Or: Why Being Odd Isn't All Bad, Or: How NOT to Make a Banana Cream Pie)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gingergallifreyan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingergallifreyan/gifts).



> Hellloooooo! Merry VERY belated Christmas to all, and especially the lovely Gingergallifreyan. This is my much-belated, humble DWSS offering. As you can see, I went with your third prompt (any Ten x Rose fic I wanted to write) as I just couldn't get the other two working. Apologies it's so late! It's based on a meme I saw ages ago and I've linked it to the end, if you're interested. I hope you like this fic. I do have some more ideas for an epilogue of sorts, but.....let's see how we'll go with this one first.
> 
> Many many thanks to the fabulous goingtothetardis for her readthrough and for coming up with half of the title! (also for listening to me whine about this fic lol).
> 
> Merry Christmas, happy new year and I hope you like!

“Bloody finally,” Donna sighed as she plonked herself onto the couch, happily eyeing the glass of wine and bridal magazine on the side table. What with work all day and then supervising the last of the renovations to her and Lee’s new flat, she was more than ready for a glass of blush and a bit of peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, said peace and quiet lasted precisely five minutes before the front door banged open and footsteps clomped down the corridor.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Donna looked up to find her outraged younger cousin in his usual tatty brown pin-striped suit. “What do you want, Doctor? And how did you get in this time?”

“Never mind that!” John snapped, ruffling his already wild hair. “What’s wrong with me then?”

Donna rolled her eyes. “We don’t have enough time to even _start_ on that one, sunshine. Now for the last time, what do you want?”

Unsurprisingly, he ignored her. “What’s wrong with me, Donna?” He repeated.  “Am I _odd_?”

She shook her head in bafflement.  “What’s brought this on?”

“Jack!” He shouted. “That’s what!”

Donna exhaled and marked her page. Obviously, she wasn’t going to have any luck choosing bridesmaid’s dresses today, either. “What’d Captain Tightpants have to say today, then, and how did it make you drag yourself out of that cave of yours and into my flat?”

“Don’t call him that!” he snapped, ruffling his already wild hair. “You know very well he’s not a captain! And my flat isn’t a _cave_ , it’s a visual representation of the unseen dimension!”

Setting aside the magazine, she looked at her younger cousin consideringly, refusing to get into _that_ particular discussion again. “So what did Jack have to say for himself and how does you being _odd_ come into it?”

“Aha! Proof! You agree with him.” John collapsed moodily onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “Betrayed by my own cousin and my best friend.”

“Blimey, pull yourself together, spaceman,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at his melodrama. “All I did was ask why he called you odd. That doesn’t sound like Jack.”

And it really didn’t. As shameless as the man was about chasing anything that breathed (and probably things that didn’t), he was was a devoted and loyal friend and fiercely protective of her cousin.  John was a brilliant scientist, a prodigy from the age of eight and had earned his first doctorate in astrophysics at the age of sixteen, but when it came to people or conversation, or even simple simple social cues for that matter…..he had absolutely no idea.  Considering that, at the age of thirty-two, he still had no idea how to deal with people, Donna was glad he had someone to smooth to his way through the social parts of life. Jack was every bit as protective of ‘ the Doctor’ (as he was affectionately known to friends and family) as she was.

So why would he make fun of John now? It didn’t make any sense.

“Come on then,” she sighed. “What happened?”

He huffed and stared stonily ahead.

She suppressed another sigh. Bloody stubborn idiot, her cousin, and he could stay like that for hours. Luckily, she knew how to get him to move.

“Aunt Harriet came by this morning,” she said, feigning carelessness and reaching for her magazine. “With a banana cream pie. And you’re not getting any until you tell me what this is about.”

His loud squawk of indignation was the only warning she had before the magazine was torn from her hands and flung across the room.

“Oi, watch it!” She protested. “I wasn’t finished with that yet.”

“He said I’m odd!”

“In those words? Doesn’t sound like Jack,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Weeellllll, alright, he might have said that that other people might think I was odd.” He tugged at his ear, looking oddly vulnerable. “I might have tried to…woo….someone and it didn’t go well, and who better to ask than Jack? I asked him how to….how I could….meet…people, and he said I had to learn to talk to people about new things, especially people I don’t know”

“Right,” she exhaled, trying to absorb the flood of words. “So who’d you try for?”

He swallowed. “Jeanne Poisson. Professor Poisson.”

“You what?” Donna squawked in utter shock. “That pile of trouble? Are you out of your skinny little mind?”

He frowned in bafflement. “What d’you mean? What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s _wrong_ with- I’ll tell you what’s wrong with that!” she screeched in exasperation. “One, she’s a brainless airhead who doesn’t care about anything but herself, two, the only person she loves is the bint she sees in the mirror, three she’s an utter snob, and four, she’s a mercenary tart who’d sell her own mother for the chance to move up the social ladder! That enough for you?”

John blinked. “I….what? She is?”

“Of course she is!” Donna shouted. “Don’t you remember when she dumped that French bloke of hers over the size of her bloody engagement ring? Count de-what’s his name? Or the time she dumped him over the reception and the bleeding chateau? It was all over the university.”

“Engagement ring?” He asked, eyes wide. “Chateau? A _count_?”

“Arrghh!” His look of genuine shock made her want to shove aunt Harriet’s pie in his face. How could someone so brilliant be so utterly dim? “She dumped him right in the middle of the bleeding refectory, you numpty! We were both there!”

“We were? I was?” He looked confused. “When was this?”

“Two weeks ago!” She shook her head in disbelief.  “She dumped him over the chateau two weeks ago! The ring was….I dunno, at least a month or two ago!”

“She’s…she’s engaged?” He gulped. “Er, _was_ engaged?”

Donna rolled her eyes. “I’m betting that idiot of hers has already booked whichever bloody chateau it was she wanted and will come back to grovel with diamonds. He always does.”

“He does?” John asked faintly.

“Of course he does!” Donna sighed. “That’s why she does it.”

“You mean she breaks up with her fiancé so he’ll buy her things? He looked utterly shocked at the thought.

 _“Yes,”_ Donna said with as much patience as she could muster. “That’s why she does it.”

“But that’s…that’s despicable!”

Frustrated as she was, she tried to hide a smile at his outrage. “Yes, it is. _Now_ d’you think it’s such a good idea for you to try for her?”

“I should say not!” He huffed in disgust, looking for all the world like an outraged toothpick (not that Donna would ever tell him that. Well, she amended, not today). “She’s mercenary and cruel and….and engaged!” He paused. “Is she engaged?” At her shrug, he ploughed ahead. “Well she’s maybe-engaged, or was-engaged-and-likely-to-be-reengaged!”

“Too right,” Donna snorted, before something occurred to her and she cocked an eyebrow at him. “What’d she say to you, anyway?”

John froze. “What…what do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes. The toothpick’s evasive tactics needed a lot of work. “I _mean_ , Doctor, what’d she say to you when you asked her out? For that matter, what did you say to her?”

“I don’t…” he cleared his throat. “I don’t think that’s important.”

“Oh, but it is,” Donna broke in. “Come on, Doctor, out with it.”

“Really, Donna, it doesn’t matter-”

“Yes it does,” she broke in, burning with curiosity. “You came to me for help and I can’t do that if you don’t tell me what happened. So come on, chop chop! What happened?”

“I-” He started to protest before breaking off at her stern look. “I….I asked her to come with me to the planetarium. I thought she might like to see the feature on France and its night sky.”

Donna tried not to grimace at the snobby woman’s likely reaction to her earnest cousin. “And what’d she say?”

“She…” he looked down. “She patted me on the cheek and said I was a nice boy. And she laughed at me. Then she walked away.”

“Stuck-up cow,” Donna muttered. “You’re well shot of that one, let me tell you.”

“So it seems,” he shrugged. “Only…I thought maybe it was my fault- you know, said the wrong thing or used the wrong words. So I went to Jack, thought if anyone would know what went wrong it’d be him.”

“Right,” Donna sighed. It was all starting to make sense now. “And Jack said people might think you were odd?”

John shrugged. “Yeah. He didn’t know who I asked, of course- didn’t tell him- but I told him I’d tried to…woo…a lady and she’d laughed at me.” He sighed. “Jack said that…that I didn’t do anything wrong, but that maybe I should try….diversifying my interests and social discourse a bit, that it might look odd to someone who didn’t know me if I tried to talk to them about my work or….or other interesting things.” He looked at her forlornly. “I _am_ odd, aren’t I Donna?”

“Too right you are,” she said, nudging him fondly. “And I wouldn’t change you for anything.”

“But-”

“But nothing, spaceman,” she interrupted. “Remember when I was dating that arse, Lance, a few years ago?”

John scowled. “He was an utter git.”

Donna patted his shoulder. “He was. But d’you know what he said?”

John mutely shook his head.

“He said I was too bossy, too interested in details nobody ever cared about, that I had an unhealthy interest in administrational organisation.”

“He what?” Her cousin quivered with outrage. “How dare he! You’re one of the most respected business administration consultants in London now! And a regular guest lecturer at the university!”

“I know,” she said, a warm glow suffusing her at her cousin’s vehement defence. “But the point is, he was wrong. He was just the wrong bloke for me because he didn’t care about any of the things I loved.”

“And because he was a polymer plastic-headed idiot!”

“That too,” she smiled. “But what I’m saying is, if a person cares about you, they understand what’s important to you. They care about the those things, or at least, some of them, even if it takes time to understand them. You just need something in common to start you off, is all.”

“But…but what about opposites attracting?” He asked, looking confused.

Donna shrugged. “Some difference is healthy, but you need to have some things in common too, Doctor, or else when the novelty wears off, there’s nothing left.”

“So it’s nothing like the rules of repulsion and attraction, then?” He asked miserably.

“Not even close,” she told him bluntly. “It’s so much more complicated than that.” She paused. “Is that why you asked Madam out, then?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. I don’t even know her, really, I just….she’s the opposite of me. I mean, she’s  intelligent, but she’s….everything I’m not. She’s beautiful and graceful and social and…. French.”

Donna guffawed. “And a social-climbing cow who only cares about herself. She chucked over her last boyfriend for Count De-Fru-Fru for that reason.”

“Right, well, that too.” He sighed. “She seemed ideal, on the surface.”

“Except underneath it’s different story.”

“Yeah.” He looked at her pathetically. “So what do I do now? I don’t…I’m happy for you and Lee, you know that, and Jack and…whomever he’s dating now, but I….”

“But you want someone of your own,” Donna finished in understanding.

He nodded and slumped dejectedly. “Yeah. I know I’m a bit…unique, but I never, well it didn’t bother me so much before now. There was so much to learn, so much of the universe to see that I was always running and learning and studying, so I never had time to stop and think about it. Only….only now you’re marrying Lee and Jack is dating the closest available lifeform and I suddenly realised that….I don’t have anyone to see it all with.” He took a deep breath. “So I tried and it didn’t work and then I asked Jack and he said that….that people might find me a bit odd and I… I thought you might know why.” He looked at her pleadingly.

“Nothing’s wrong with you.” She sighed at his disbelieving look. “Look I’m not going to lie, spaceman- when you start on one of your science tears, I have no idea what you’re talking about. You drive me bonkers most of the time but…there’s nothing wrong with you. And don’t you dare tell anyone I said that!” Pleased at his weak smile, she pushed on. “I’ll admit, you look like a skinny prawn to me, but to someone who’s not your cousin you don’t look bad really- you’re alright for a skinny bloke.”

“Then why did Jack-”

“He didn’t mean anything by it,” she interrupted. “He’s just saying if people don’t know you, they don’t know what you’re like, and while your work is one thing to talk about, if you have more interests, you have more things to talk to people about, more ways for people to know to know you, that’s all. Most people can’t talk about astrophysics off the bat.”

“Oh.” He paused. “What should I do then? What kind of hobbies should I take up?”

“I don’t know Doctor, anything you like!” She sighed in exasperation. “You’re not trying to change yourself so people like you, you’re trying to find new things you’re interested in so people have more ways to get to know you.”

“So I don’t have to do anything I don’t like?”

“Of course not, you git. What’s the point of a hobby you don’t like? You’re trying to find ways to talk to people without pouring out the finer points of astrophysics on the first meeting!”

“So I just have to find more things I like? Things I can talk to people about?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “That’s exactly it.”

“Donna!”

“What?”

“That’s….that’s brilliant!"

“Glad you think so.” She shook her head. “So you’re alright now?”

“Yep!” He exclaimed, popping the p in that annoying way of his.

“No more personality crisis?”

“Nope!”

“I told you to stop doing that!”

“Right,” he beamed. “Right you are.”

She rolled her eyes. “So what now, then? What are you going to do?”

“I dunno….I think I might start with bird-watching! And then baking! And…and painting!”

“Painting?” She asked warily. She had a very bad feeling about this.

“Yep! Painting. The walls of the unseen dimension need a bit of jazzing up!”

“Right,” she said faintly, imagining all the ways this could go horribly wrong and hoping the block of flats would be standing at  the end of it. “Painting. Just do me a favour, spaceman- when you start baking, stick with the no-bake recipes, will you?”

“What for?”

“No reason,” she said weakly. “No reason at all.”

* * *

  _Three weeks later_

“No, no, half-past five is fine,” Rose Tyler said breathlessly into the phone, searching frantically for her rental portfolio. “Your flat isn’t far from work and I clock off at five.”

“Brilliant, I’ll see you at half-five then?”

“Thanks, see you then!”

Jabbing the hang up button, she collapsed at her desk, head in hands. “Thank God.” If this flat worked out, she might, just _might_ have a flat to live in before she was kicked out of her current flat. The entire block of flats had been purchased by a massive consortium and was scheduled for demolition in three weeks time. The tenants had all been given a month’s notice and she had just under two weeks left to find another place.

“Bloody Torchwood,” she muttered. The vultures had moved in almost as soon as the elderly owner, Mr. Wilson, had died. Mr. Wilson was a kind, gentle, man who’d been on good terms with all of his tenants, took them fruit baskets every Christmas and refused to raise the rents by more than a nominal amount. Located in Wandsworth, it had been ideal for a girl moving out for her first full time job several years ago, if a bit further from work than she would have liked. Now, she was working in Kensington, was earning a bit more and could afford the Chiswick flat she’d seen advertised last week. Frankly, considering the handsy landlords and illegal drug labs she’d stumbled across, and considering that it was just about impossible to get a flat in London these days, this flat sounded like heaven.

Normal, all she wanted was normal and decent.

And normal.

Please God, let it be normal.

++++++++++++++

Rose met Donna at the door of number ten at exactly five-thirty. Evidently, the other woman had just arrived home from work herself.

“Hi! You must be Rose,” the attractive redhead said, fiddling with the lock. “I’m Donna, come on in!”

“Rose Tyler,” she said breathlessly as she was pulled inside. “Nice to meet you, Donna.”

“Likewise, thanks for coming by on such short notice.”

“No trouble at all, thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”

Donna dismissed her thanks with a wave of her hand, waving Rose to a nearby chair and she sat. “Right, let’s get to it then. So why don’t you tell me why you’re looking to move?”

Rose shrugged helplessly. “No choice really. Been living at the same flat in Wandsworth for the last four years, owner passed away a couple of months ago and some big consortium moved in to buy the whole block of flats. They’ve given us a month to get out, and, well, finding a place in London…”

“…Is a nightmare,” Donna finished. “Sounds awful. You’d think they’d give you a couple of months at least.”

“Yeah, right,” Rose snorted, remembering her failed conversation with Torchwood representative. “We tried, but apparently ‘Torchwood time is precious time’.”

“Torchwood?” Donna narrowed her eyes. “Don’t suppose you remember the name of the person you dealt with?”

Rose frowned, trying to remember. “I think it was some lawyer…Lance…something or other.”

Donna’s eyes flared. “That arse! He always did like pinning people against the wall. Makes the git feel powerful.”

“You…you know him?”

“Oh, you bet I do,” Donna snorted. “I had the misfortune of dating the arse for a year, then he dumped me for some spider of a woman.” The other woman smiled grimly. “Too bad he nearly drowned doing it.”

“He _what_?” Rose gaped.

“Oh yes,” Donna smirked. “Right after his ‘moving on to bigger and better things’ speech, the git turned to stalk off, only he ended up tripping and falling headfirst into the Thames.”

Rose tried to suppress a giggle. “Serves him right!”

“Too right,” Donna chuckled. “Too right. Ahhhh, memories. Right well, enough about that arse, why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself?”

“Not much to tell,” Rose shrugged, holding out her portfolio. “‘M twenty-seven, graphic designer, no debts, an’ I’ve worked at the Face of Bo for the last four years. Mum married the bloke from the fruit shop and they moved to Surrey to live near his mum- she got sick last year.”

“Good rental history, always on time with the rent, good references.” Donna cocked an eyebrow as she leafed through the pages. “No debts, not even uni? I can’t even say that. You have a secret inheritance or something then?”

“Not hardly,” Rose snorted. “I grew up in Peckham, on a council estate.”

“Then how?”

“Hard work,” Rose said, raising her chin proudly. “I worked at Henrik’s during the day and went to night classes to finish school. I saved and studied for ages and then I got a full scholarship for my degree.”

“Phew,” Donna whistled. “You must be good. D’you freelance by any chance?”

“Sometimes,” Rose said cautiously. “Why?”

“I’m getting married next year,” the other woman said. “I still haven’t managed to get the wedding invitations sorted.”

“Oh, congratulations! Is that why you’re moving out?”

“Yes,” Donna smiled, looking down at the ring on her finger. “Lee and I are moving into our place in a few months.”

“A few months? Rose swallowed? “But then…”

Donna waved off her concerns. “I can move in with Lee at his place til the flat is ready, it’s no trouble. But about the freelance- we haven’t sorted the invitations yet. Don’t suppose you have samples I could look at?”

“I….yeah, I could bring my portfolio by,” Rose said shakily. “But what about the flat? Don’t you want to ask me anymore questions? I can bring anything else you need to see.”

Donna tilted her head. “Do you live alone?”

Rose nodded.

“No boyfriend or flatmate?”

Rose snorted. “Not since my last flatmate ran off with my boyfriend four years ago.”

Donna’s eyes grew wide. “Blimey!”

“It’s ancient history,” Rose shrugged. “I live on my own now and I prefer it that way.”

“No pets?”

“Not even a house plant.” Rose grimaced. “Not after I killed my miniature cactus.”

“You what?” The other woman stared. “How’d you do that, then? I didn’t think you _could_ kill a cactus!”

Rose grinned sheepishly. “I watered it every day.”

Donna started to laugh. “I like you, blondie.”

“So, does that mean you’d consider…?” Rose trailed off hopefully.

Please, please, _please_.

Donna stood. “Why don’t we tour the place, see if you like it. If you do, and once I’ve checked all your references, it’s yours.”

“R-really?” Rose breathed, following suit. “You mean it?”

Donna shrugged. “I told you, I like you. I’d much rather you have the flat than some moron who’ll trash it- I want someone who’ll look after it. If that’s you- and from the looks of this, it is- then good.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much.” Rose swallowed in relief. “I can’t….I was so worried I’d end up in a hotel until I found something, and I have nowhere to put my things…”

Donna patted her on the shoulder. “I know what it’s like trying to get a place in this bloody city, and frankly trying to get a decent tenant isn’t much easier. It’s why I’d rather let this place myself than let some agent do it- you never know who they’ll pick. Why don’t we have that tour and then I’ll make some calls?”

“Alright,” Rose said, nails digging into her hand, already knowing she’d like the flat. As long as it wasn’t a former drug den with plumbing older than Moses, she’d _love_ it.

Following Donna down the corridor, she inspected the living room, guest loo and the two bedrooms. The flat was well-kept, clean and snug and Rose loved it.

She smiled widely as she followed Donna to the kitchen.

“Thought we could finish up in here and have a cuppa while I make a few call- good grief, spaceman what in the bloody hell are you _doing_?”

Rose blinked at Donna’s sudden screech and peered around her to see what all the fuss was about….and saw a tall, gangly bloke in a pinstriped suit and trainers sitting happily in the open fridge, reading a book.

“I told you Donna, I was …..oh hello!” He waved cheerfully at Rose. “I’m the Doctor, what’s your name?”

“Rose,” she said faintly.

“Nice to meet you, Rose!” He beamed.

“Yeah, you too…Doctor.” She inhaled. “Um, if you don’t mind my askin’, what are you doin’ in the fridge?”

“Great question.” Donna turned back to the bloke in the fridge. “What are you doing in the fridge, spaceman?”

“Baking!” The bloke…the _Doctor..._ said happily, to Rose’s bafflement.

“You’re _what_?” Donna demanded.

“I was making a banana cream pie and the recipe said to ‘chill in the fridge for twenty minutes’ so I did! That’s what the kids are saying now, isn’t it? Chill?” He beamed. “I’m enjoying my new hobby _and_ I’m using the current verbiage!”

Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“I…oh my lord,” Donna groaned. “Rose, I am so, so sorry! I had no idea this moron was planning to invade my flat today.”

“That’s ok. Um,” Rose couldn’t help but ask, “who is he?”

“I told you!” The Doctor called from the fridge. “I’m the Doctor. Or John Noble, if you prefer more traditional nomenclature.”

Donna ignored him. “He’s my cousin, and he lives two floors up, and honestly Rose, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Rose assured her, trying to suppress her laughter. “I don’t mind. Does he have a key then?”

“No, he most certainly does no- oi! Spaceman, how’d you get in this time?”

_This time?_

The Doctor sighed, ruffling his (Rose couldn’t help but notice) rather gorgeous hair. “Honestly, all I did was use the sonic waves this time. The lock is still perfectly intact, thank you!”

Donna shook her head. “Thank heaven for small mercies. And for heaven’s sake, why are you still in the fridge?”

“I told you,” the Doctor replied absently, turning a page. “I’m _chilling_.”

 _No laughing_ , Rose told herself. _Absolutely no laughing._

“Doctor,” Donna said through gritted teeth. “They meant the _pie._ ”

The Doctor looked up. “They did?”

“Yes,” Donna growled.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

The Doctor looked crestfallen. “You mean I failed at both the baking and the fashionable colloquialism?”

Donna sighed. “‘Fraid so.”

“Oh.” Looking utterly disheartened, the Doctor pulled himself out the fridge and closed the door. Absently, Rose noted that this bloke was a bit of alright. Long and lean and _far_ too good-looking for his own good.

“Doctor, why did you come here to bake? Why didn’t you use your own kitchen?” Donna asked evenly, obviously trying to keep her temper.

He shrugged. “I haven’t put the oven back together yet and I may need to obtain another fridge.”

“Oh lord, you’ve been ‘fixing’ the electronics again, haven’t you?” Donna groaned.

“I’ve only made a few minor enhancements,” he said defensively.

“Like what?” Rose couldn’t help but ask.

He blinked in surprise. “Oh, well, I’m trying to enable the oven fan to operate at a super-speed.”

“How come?”

“To make it work faster!”

Donna sighed. “Or it could end up burning the food.”

“I-hmmm, well yes it would take certain temporal and temperature adjustments, but I was going to work on that!”

“Of course you were.” Donna nodded wearily. “Look, I need to make Rose a cuppa and make some calls, so you need to go back to your flat for now, alright?”

He blinked, looking somewhat hurt. “I do?”

“’S fine,” Rose chimed in, hating the look on his face. “I don’t mind chattin’ to the Doctor while you make the calls.”

“You don’t?” The eager smile on his face took her breath away.

“Nope, love to. For starters, you can tell me what you’re a doctor of. Are you a proper doctor?”

“Astrophysics!” He beamed. “Wait here, I’ll show you!”

With that, he dashed out of the kitchen, leaving Rose and Donna staring after him.

“Rose, I’m so sorry, honestly I don’t know what he was thinking-”

’S ok,” she broke in, not wanting Donna to worry. “Does he…does he usually…visit?”

Donna sighed. “He won’t show up in your kitchen uninvited, if that’s what you’re worried about. We grew up together, and were always at each other’s places. Since we both ended up in the same building, he doesn’t see the problem in just dropping by. I’m guessing he’ll do the same at the new flat.”

Rose laughed. “Makes sense. I had a mate I grew up with, Mickey, who was always at our flat. Mum was forever shoutin’ at him for picking the lock and helpin’ himself to the fridge. When I moved, he was forever doin’ the same, until he met Martha. Does…does the Doctor have someone?” She hoped she didn’t sound too interested in the answer.

She was here for a flat, not a man. She had her job and her friends and her life was just fine.

Didn’t hurt to ask though.

“Spaceman?” Donna sighed. “Not even close. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s brilliant- too brilliant maybe. He had a doctorate at sixteen, he solves equations and problems I don’t even understand in the blink of an eye, he’s a research fellow at the Imperial College at thirty-two years of bloody age, he eats sleeps and breathes physics and maths and…. _space_. But for all that, I…he doesn’t think like everybody else. He can disappear into a room for days to solve something, without ever noticing the time, something can happen right in front of him and he has no clue at all because he’s buried in some bloody paper or book, he takes things literally and doesn’t really know what’s happening in the world at times…things everyone takes for granted.”

“Takes things literally,” Rose said thoughtfully. “Like the fridge thing.”

“Yes. So you see what I mean? For all that he's brilliant and kind like you wouldn’t believe and a _good_ bloke, he’s a bit…unusual. Finds it difficult to talk to people, and, well…” Donna shrugged. “People don’t know what to make of him. If it weren’t for Jack, I’d worry a lot more about people trying to take advantage of him.”

“Jack?”

“Jack Harkness,” Donna smiled. “His best friend. They grew up together and that Lothario is honestly the best friend John could have had.”

Rose smiled. “That’s nice.”

“It is. But I promise you Rose, he won’t bother you- he’s not like that.” Donna looked at her earnestly. “He’s not some creeper.”

And honestly, Rose believed her. The Doctor seemed to be everything Donna had said- absent-minded, brilliant, utterly clueless about social mores or even his surroundings at times, but he hadn’t seemed to be manipulative or…creepy. Having lived in London for so many years, and most of them on the Estate, Rose liked to think she could spot a creeper a mile away.

Besides, lock-picking or not, she had a few tricks of her own. One didn’t grow up around Mickey Smith without learning a thing or two about keeping people out.

“’S ok, I was just thinking, it’d be nice to have a friend in my new place.” Rose tried to smile. “An’ maybe the Doctor might like a new friend too? Especially with you getting married and everything.”

Donna looked at Rose for a long moment before seizing her in a fierce hug. “Thank you. I- anybody else would have freaked out to find a bloke in the fridge, but you- thank you.” Stepping back, she went back to making the tea. “You’re alright, blondie.”

“Rose! I’m back! Have a look at this!” The Doctor barrelled into the kitchen, clutching an iPad.

Rose smiled. “What is it then?”

“A draft mapping of a new star system,” he beamed, flicking through multiple images. “We’ve only just discovered it, so this is very, _very_ draft. Isn’t it brilliant?

“Yeah,” Rose breathed, looking at the stunning images. “Wait, is that- are these-?”

“Pictures of the newest stars we’ve located so far,” the Doctor grinned, bouncing on his chair. “Look, that’s Adricus, and that’s Leelae, and we haven’t named this one yet.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m seein’ new stars.” Rose shook her head. “This is amazin’ Doctor.”

“Isn’t it?” He beamed proudly.

Donna smiled as she placed a cup of tea on the table. “Looks like you two will keep nice and busy while I make my calls.”

The Doctor waved her off. “Yes, yes. Now see here, Rose, this one is….”

Rose stared in awe at the beautiful shots of faraway stars and planets. “It..it’s like I’m there, she breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I should think not,” the Doctor chattered. “These are brand new, after all!”

“Thank you for showin’ me,” she smiled. “I’ve always loved space. When I was a kid, I’d sneak out onto the roof to try and see the stars- can’t see too much in London though.”

“Did you really?” The Doctor seemed fascinated. “Did you ever get to see the stars elsewhere?”

“Not really,” Rose shrugged. “Not yet, anyway. I haven’t been able to travel much, what with uni and work and all, but one day, I’d love to.” She blushed. “I used to sketch what I wished I could see, and sometimes in my spare time I create graphics and whatnot.”

“You do?” The Doctor said eagerly. “You did? May I see?”

Rose blushed heavily. “I’ve got one or two of the graphics on my phone, but they’re not much, really….”

“Oh, go on Rose!”

Shaking her head, she flicked through her phone and handed it over to the Doctor.

“Oh, Rose,” he breathed. “This is _brilliant!_ ”

She shrugged self-self-consciously. “’S’ just a bit of mucking around, and I probably got some of it wrong.”

“No!” He stared mesmerised at her phone. “It’s absolutely spot on. The Milky Way in all its glory! I can’t…could you…can you do this for other things?”

“Yeah, s’pose, if you tell me what you want?”

“Brilliant!” He breathed. “This is….this is _fantastic_. Rose…what’s your surname?”

“Tyler,” she said in bemusement.

 _“Rose Tyler,”_ he said, dragging out her name in a way that made her toes curl. “You are an absolute genius.”

“Nah,” she shrugged, blushing. “Not really. Not like you, Doctor. I just, I like space.”

“I like space too!” He said, giving her a devastating smile that gave her butterflies. “That’s all. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“’S amazing work you do,” she smiled. “Getting to see new stars as they’re born, old ones as they die, discoverin’ new planets….it’s almost like travellin’ through space.”

“Yeah,” he beamed, looking at her in a way she didn’t quite understand before blurting out, “D’you like the planetarium?”

“I….yeah, I’ve been once or twice,” she said in bemusement.

“D’you….would you…liketoaccompanymetotheplanetariumtoseethestars?” He said in a single breath.

“I….yeah,” she said shyly. “I would.”

Donna came back into the kitchen just in time to hear her cousin shout, “Brilliant, _allons-y,_ Rose Tyler!”

++++++++++++++++++++

An hour and half later, after Donna and Rose had convinced her cousin that they couldn’t leave then and there because there was paperwork to do, after Rose had signed the lease and transferred the bond, after the Doctor (greatly affronted that she had even thought to ask) had promised Donna he would never, _ever_ break into Rose’s flat, after Donna had booked a time to see Rose the next day about the wedding invitations, and after (to Donna’s utter delight) the Doctor and Rose had exchanged numbers before leaving and made plans to visit the planetarium tomorrow evening (“just as friends Donna”, Rose had whispered, blushing as the Doctor gazed at her so intently Donna was surprised the girl didn’t burst into flame), Donna sat at the table with a cup of tea.

And smirked.

This was going to work out so much better than she’d ever expected.

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come follow me on Tumblr at countessselena.tumblr.com
> 
> Link to meme is https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1250611-image-macros


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